


A Is A: Fairy's Tail

by Flyboy254



Series: A Is A [1]
Category: Fairy Tail, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Gen, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 19:19:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13665615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flyboy254/pseuds/Flyboy254
Summary: In a political bind, Stargate Command must expand their remit to dimensions along with the universe. When magic meets technology, one truth remains.People are alike all over...





	A Is A: Fairy's Tail

**Fairy’s Tail**

* * *

 

Col. Jack O’Neill stared at Teal’c from across the table in the mess hall. “You’re stalling.”

 

Teal’c’s face was a blank. “I merely formulate my next decision O’Neill.”

 

“Yeah right,” O’Neill groaned. Leaning back in his chair, he looked over his setup. There was no chance Teal’c would be able to get one over on him, not this-

 

“C-5.”

 

O’Neill groaned. “Great, and there goes my sub.” O’Neill put a red peg into the last open hole on his plastic sub. “Now I know you’re cheating.”

 

“Your defensive strategy is predictable O’Neill,” Teal’c said, his face still blank. “You place all your ships as close to the center as possible.”

 

O’Neill didn’t say anything for a second. “Okay, that’s fair.”

 

The PA system came to life. “SG-1, report to Gen. Hammond for mission briefing, SG-1, report to Gen. Hammond for mission briefing.”

 

O’Neill jumped up from the table, walking briskly to the doors and into the corridor. Teal’c followed right behind him. Then he walked back into the mess, checked the position of O’Neill’s ships, and walked back out.

 

* * *

 

Gen. Hammond waited for SG-1 to take the folders in hand before beginning. “The Pentagon believes that with since we face two threats with the appearance of the Replicators, we must take further steps to ensure that our world is secured from any other threats. With the pressing of Sen. Kinsey, they feel that the only way we can find the technologies capable of doing this is by use of the quantum mirror.”

 

No one said anything for a few seconds. “General, at the risk of sounding like a moron, isn’t that the mirror that sent us a second Carter?”

 

“The Joint Chiefs believe that the mirror is our key to finding the technologies we would need to gain a foothold against our enemies.” SG-1 could tell that even with the order coming down, Hammond expression made it clear he thought it was a stupid idea.

 

“Okay, so let’s presume that this can actually work,” Daniel said. “We don’t have any control for the mirror. Dr. Carter and Kowalski took theirs back to their dimension, we’d have to make up a new one from scratch.”

 

“The scientists studying both the mirror and gate have a theory,” Hammond said. “They believe that since both are technologies made by the same race the Goa’uld took the stargate network from, they will be able to somehow match the mirror to the gate and activate it using the same dial sequences.”

 

Carter shook her head. “I can’t believe they’re really considering this.”

 

“So should we be ready for the base to catch fire, general, or is it enough to prepare for wailing and gnashing of teeth?”

 

“The plan is to try and place the mirror’s singularity through the gate at the moment of activation. The hope is that the gate will somehow substitute the mirror’s singularity for its own.”

 

Carter shook her head. “This sounds more like a political expedience sir, even for us that sounds too impossible to consider.”

 

“I mentioned that exact concern to the Pentagon,” Hammond said. “Unfortunately, the pull of a man of my rank doesn’t have enough weight to change the course of the Senate, let alone the Joint Chiefs.”

 

“And we take the blame when the first test goes as well as you can expect something like this to go.” O’Neill clapped his hands. “Can’t wait.”

 

“We’ll have the mirror and gate ready in about two weeks,” Hammond said. “I expect to have you all ready for the mission should the MALP return good data. Dismissed.”

 

As SG-1 left the briefing room, Hammond rubbed at his eyes. “Rough time with the Pentagon, sir?”

 

“Colonel I have found that dealing with the Goa’uld is much more pleasant than dealing with the accountants in Washington. The Joint Chiefs confided to me that they understand the sheer difficulty of the project. Unfortunately, Sen. Kinsey is pressing hard again.”

 

O’Neill scowled. “Wonder if the Goa’uld want to make a trade. They get Kinsey, we get Yu.”

 

Hammond sighed. “We’ll make contingency plans in case something goes haywire. I won’t send my people in without making sure they have a good chance of coming back.”

 

“Would never imagine you doing so, sir.” Smiling, O’Neill backed out of the door with a quick salute. “Oh, by the way, do you have any admirals you can call for naval strategy?”

 

Hammond couldn’t suppress his smile. “Teal’c’s beating you again.”

 

O’Neill quickly left the room.

 

* * *

 

The team stood over the monitors, watching as the MALP rolled up to the opened gate. Behind the gate, the quantum mirror sat. According to the “plan”, they had put the mirror’s surface microns from the event horizon. On activation both devices activated, and now the gate had forgotten the usual blue hue. It was now pulsing white, still rippling as the MALP rolled through.

 

“Still no traces of hazardous radiation or chemicals sir,” Carter said as the MALP entered the wormhole. “Whatever’s on the other side is clean, at least so far.”

 

“I’m still betting evil mirror universe.”

 

Daniel looked over to O’Neill. “No, last time you said universe where the Soviets were still present.”

 

O’Neill looked offended. “No, no I didn’t.”

 

Teal’c interrupted. “A picture is coming through O’Neill.”

 

Gathering around Carter’s monitor, the entire team saw the picture start to clear. It was distorted at first, a flickering image fading in and out of focus. Slowly Carter made the necessary adjustments clear the picture, and smiled.

 

The image was verdant, massive trees in a forest, and as the sound cleared there was the beating of waves on nearby shores. A soft wind blew through the branches, and the shadows of birds flew across the MALP’s field of vision.

 

“Gravity is within Earth’s limits, oxygen-nitrogen mix is near exactly what we’re used to.” Carter smiled as she turned to Gen. Hammond. “Sir, we could travel there now and suffer no ill-effects.”

 

“The transmission still appears distorted.” Teal’c stared hard at the monitor, and everyone silently agreed. There was something about the picture that was off, but no one could verbalize just what it was. “Major Carter, are you certain this would be a reasonably secure undertaking?”

 

O’Neill gave Teal’c a look. “Since when has any mission we’ve been on ever been ‘secure’ to you?”

 

Spinning the MALP around, Carter was about to see the gate on the other side when the feed cut. The gate warped, and the wormhole disappeared.

 

“Well, your call general,” O’Neill said. “We going or are we chalking up another lost MALP? Does not look good on the budget, sir.”

 

Hammond nodded. “I want you all prepped and ready to go in an hour, you’ll take the FRED with you for extra provisions should you need it.”

 

In less than thirty minutes SG-1 was formed up in front of the gate. Stretching out, O’Neill gave a grin. “So, everyone ready for another trip to where no man, or woman, has gone before?”

 

“I still do not approve O’Neill,” Teal’c said. “The strange state of the transmission has caused me to question if this mission is still a wise decision.”

 

“It’s probably just something to do with the fact that we’re not using a typical means of going through the gate,” Carter said. “C’mon Teal’c, you’ve never been this nervous before a mission before.”

 

“To be fair I’m a little apprehensive too,” Daniel said. “I mean you guys haven’t gone through to another dimension, it’s a little hard for you to try and imagine what could be waiting for you.”

 

“Look, we’re armed, we’re experienced, and we can breathe on the other side.” O’Neill gestured to the open gate. “Let’s go in and get to work.”

 

Hammond’s voice broke over the intercom. “SG-1, you have a go. Godspeed out there.”

 

O’Neill gave a quick salute. “Keep dinner warm for us, sir.” Striding up the ramp, O’Neill turned to Daniel. “I’m telling ya, evil mirror-verse.”

 

* * *

 

High up on the massive tree in the middle of Tenrou Island, a woman looked up into the air. There it was again, some strange feeling. Something shifting in the air, affecting the magic of the entire island. It didn’t feel good, but somehow it didn’t feel wrong either. It was just…different. New. “Good or bad?” She whispered to herself as she kicked her feet in the air. “Good or bad?”

 

* * *

 

By now Carter’s body was used to the familiar sensations of coming out of the gate. The sudden shift from intense cold to sudden heat nearly overwhelming. Blinking a few times, she looked up and around. The MALP and the team were there in front of her, the FRED rolling in behind them through the wormhole.

Daniel and O’Neill stared up at the center of the island. More specifically, the massive tree growing in the center of the island. “It’s, uh, it’s…”

 

“S’big.” O’Neill nodded.

 

Teal’c just stood in front of them all, staring up at the tree staff weapon in hand. “This is not right,” he said harshly. “We must leave this place at once O’Neill.”

 

“C’mon Teal’c, we just got here.” Turning around, O’Neill started to say something but froze. “Carter, where’s the gate?”

 

Carter spun around and tried to rationalize what she wasn’t seeing. There was no stargate, or quantum mirror. There was no way of getting back home. There was only a cliff overlooking the sea. “General Hammond should open the gate a few days from now when we don’t report back sir, we’ll just-”

 

The team looked all wrong. Danie’s eyes were _large_ , larger than they would look even with thicker glasses. Teal’c was suddenly more muscular than when they left, his uniform barely concealing his arms. O’Neill’s face was more angular, and as Carter watched they all started to notice each other.

 

The three humans started screaming as Teal’c took in the scene.

 

Natsu looked up at the sound, but was quickly brought back to reality by Zancrow throwing another blast of magic his way. “That’s right little dragon, dodge all you want. You can’t save yourself from the power of a god slayer!”

 

Natsu roared, unleashing a barrage of flame at the dark wizard. Mockingly, Zancrow broke through the flames and started pummeling the dragon slayer again, Natsu catching glimpses of his wounded master nearby in between being crushed into the dirt.

 

The blast interrupted the screaming. “Right, recon. Okay, new plan. Carter, Daniel, you both go to the tree, see if there’s anyone else on this rock that can tell us what’s going on. Teal’c, we’re heading towards the explosion. Where there’s explosions, there’s people. We’re proof of that.” Carter and Jackson shared a look, then nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”

 

O’Neill and Teal’c charged through the trees, O’Neill trying desperately to get the bizarre image of Teal’c out of his mind. He didn’t feel any different though, he felt just like himself, normal Jack O’Neill, astoundingly and amazingly intelligent colonel in charge of SG-1. Okay, probably just astounding.

 

Dodging branches as he ran, O’Neill heard the sounds of fighting echoing through the trees. Voices shouted in the distance, and the crackle of a fire swept through ahead of him, through the mighty trees that were as tall as the redwoods and thick as the oaks. The ground shook, and explosive blasts echoed around him.

 

Scrambling through the trees, O’Neill heard the voices get louder. Words became distinct: Dragon, flame, slayer. “ _A heavy metal fight?_ ”

 

Breaking into a clearing, O’Neill blinked a few times to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. A pink-haired teenager landed hard on the ground, the massive trees cut down all around him. Another teenager with spiky blonde hair held up a right hand wreathed in black flames. Farther away, an old man lay flat on the ground. “What the hell…”

 

The blonde teen spun around. “Oh, more of you? No matter, I’ll kill all you weak little fairies!”

 

O’Neill and Teal’c raised their weapons. “Hold it, we don’t want to fight, we’re here to talk!”

 

Before O’Neill registered it, the teen launched himself off the ground at them. Training took over, and as the teen came at them O’Neill and Teal’c opened fire. A staff blast struck the teen in the upper left chest, the rest of his body riddled with bullets. Face frozen in a manic smile, the teen landed on the ground in a heap.

 

“Teal’c, get the old man,” O’Neill barked, running over to the boy as he pulled out his IFAK. “Hey, kid, you okay?”

 

Grunting, the boy slowly stood himself up, glaring at O’Neill. “Who the hell are you, pops? This island’s off limits to everyone except members of Fairy Tale.”

 

“Sorry, the sign wasn’t posted,” O’Neill said. The boy was covered in bruises, a black scarf wrapped around his neck. “You have a camp or a cabin on this place, we need to get your somewhere to rest.”

 

“I don’t need to rest,” the teen growled, trying to shove O’Neill off. “How’s Gramps, is he alright?”

 

O’Neill looked over. “Teal’c, how’s he doing over there?”

 

“He will recover O’Neill,” he said, checking the man over. “Sir, do you have any open wounds or broken bones?”

 

“I’m fine,” Makarov grunted, slowly sitting up. “We need to gather up my children, they’re in danger as well.”

 

“We will escort you to their location,” Teal’c said, using his kit on Makarov and gently lifting the man up in one arm. “Please direct us to them sir.”

 

“Don’t do it gramps,” Natsu groaned, forcing himself up. “They’re trespassing on Fairy Tail’s island, they shouldn’t be here.”

 

“Well that’s gratitude,” O’Neill said. “You treat everyone who saves your ass like this?”

 

“Natsu!” Looking for the source of the voice, O’Neill saw a young girl with long blue hair running his way, along with…

 

“Are those cats with wings?”

“Natsu, thank goodness you’re alright. Hold on, I’ll fix you!”

 

“Hey, hey easy no kiddo,” O’Neill, kneeling down to her level and trying to ignore the cats. “We’ve got plenty of medical supplies, we’ll get him patched up and to a doctor as soon as we can.”

 

“I can heal him though,” the girl said, moving for Natsu. “He’s hurt bad, I need to help him.”

 

“I’d listen to the girl,” the white cat said. O’Neill’s face screwed up in anguish at the fact. “Natsu is just territorial, we’re grateful for your helping us.”

 

O’Neill didn’t say anything for a second. “You’re welcome.”

 

The girl knelt down, closing her eyes as her hands started to glow on the teenager’s body. O’Neill watched in shock as the girl seemingly willed the boy’s body to heal. Sighing, she stood up as she finished. “There, all done.” Then she wavered on her feet as O’Neill helped her sit down. “Sorry, I’m still trying to build up my strength.”

 

“No, no, it’s okay,” O’Neill said, looking over to the teen. “You feeling okay buddy?”

 

The teenager jumped up, punching his palm into his fist and glaring towards the shore. “I’m gonna kill those jerks, they’ll regret ever messing with Fairy Tail! Where’s that blonde god slayer freak?”

 

“We already took care of him,” O’Neill said. “You said there’s other members of your guild on the island, where are they, if there’s enemy forces on this island our team needs to know.”

 

Natsu wasn’t listening, he was already storming towards Zancrow. “Hey you jackass, I’m not done with you yet.” Grabbing the body, Natsu was about to launch into another tirade when he noticed the body was covered in blood and burns.

 

“Yeah, he won’t be telling you much of anything,” O’Neill said. “Dying tends to do that to you.” Natsu froze. “Hey, kid, can you use whatever mojo you just did on the old man too?”

 

“What did you do to him,” Natsu growled, standing over the body of Zancrow. “Why did you kill him?”

 

“Because he was trying to kill me?” O’Neill looked over to Teal’c in confusion. “It’s usually how things work.”

 

“You didn’t need to kill him,” Natsu growled. “You shouldn’t have to kill to win a fight.”

 

“I do not believe this boy is thinking rationally O’Neill,” Teal’c said, carrying the old man to the blue-haired girl. “He may still be processing the violence that just occurred.”

 

“What’d you say baldy?” The teenager started stalking forward, his face twisted into a horrible mask of anger. “You saying I’m some kinda weakling?”

 

O’Neill didn’t waste time, he took out his zat. “Kid, just calm down and let us help you, I don’t want to have to knock you out.”

 

“You can try you jerk,” Natsu said, slowly picking up speed. “But I won’t give you the chance!”

 

O’Neill dropped to one knee and fired off a blast from the zat. The blue beam struck the boy full in the chest, and for a second the teenager spasmed about before falling face-first on the ground. “Is this guy always angry?”

 

“Actually I’ve never seen him like this before,” the girl said. “I’m Wendy sir, and that’s Carla, and Happy, and Panther Lily. And this is-”

 

“Makarov Dreyar,” the old man said, sliding out of Teal’c’s hands to the ground. Standing as tall as he could, he held out a hand to O’Neill. “Leader of the wizard guild Fairy Tail.”

 

O’Neill nodded as best he could. “Col. Jack O’Neill, US Air Force. That’s Teal’c.” Teal’c nodded respectfully to the older man. “You uh, you got a base around here?”

 

“Our camp is a good walk away,” Makarov said, grunting as he got to his feet. “Quickly, we don’t know when they’ll be back to try and finish us off.”

 

“Teal’c, get the kid,” O’Neill said, pointing a thumb to Natsu’s twitching, grumbling form. “Sir, you need a hand?”

 

“I’ll heal him,” Wendy said, quickly pulling the same glowing hands trick. “There, how are you feeling masterrrrr…” Wendy started to wobble, and O’Neill quickly scooped her up.

 

“Quickly, we must move,” Makarov said, standing as tall as he could. As he spoke, a series of shockwaves ran through the island. “Now, we have to stop this before things get worse!”

 

* * *

 

“C’mon Daniel, move!” Daniel tried to keep up with Carter, trying to keep his mind from going into panic mode. The lack of a gate or quantum mirror was bad enough, but looking at everyone made it even worse. Teal’c turned more muscular, almost to the point of deformation. Jack’s face angular and nearly gaunt. Sam suddenly somehow more rounded, with massive eyes on a still-somehow proportional face. He couldn’t bear to imagine how he probably looked.

 

Another shockwave forced him to lean against one of the trees for a second. The fact that they’d run into an active conflict was a terrifying prospect, most of the worlds they arrived on were typically more peaceful for a given value of the word. The fighting didn’t start until _after_ they’d made their presence known.

 

Running faster through the trees, Daniel and Carter broke into a clearing, seeing a strange scene in front of them. A woman was wrapped up in vines, another wearing a pink sundress trying to pull the first woman out, and a large man wearing a kind of uniform. The woman in the sundress was glaring at the man. “Coward!”

 

The man’s face hardened. “You say that, and yet I am the one who is not afraid to fight.”

 

Carter stepped up, weapon ready. “All of you freeze!”

 

The trio turned, surprised by the intrusion, but before anyone could say anything else the sundress woman made a shroud around herself and managed a transformation into some kind of creature. With a roar she launched herself at the man, and the two began to brawl. Before Daniel had begun to process what was happening, Carter was running for the girl in the vines.

 

“Oh God, you have to get me out of here,” the girl shouted. Daniel could see why, there was a countdown on the center of the vines. “ _Wait, a countdown on the vines? Organic technologies?_ ”

 

“Easy, easy now,” Carter said, taking out her combat knife. She knelt in front of the numbers and tried to find a seam. “Once I get inside I should be able to disarm the bomb.”

 

“It’s not a bomb, the vines will explode,” the woman shouted. “You have to defeat him, otherwise I’ll have no chance!”

 

Carter nodded, and motioning to Daniel the two grabbed their zats. “Ma’am, clear the line of fire!”

 

The woman-creature tried to jump back, but the man somehow made a group of tree roots reach up from the dirt and wrap around her arms and legs. That was enough though, and as the man moved to the ground Carter fired a zat blast at the man. Realizing that the thing was dangerous to him, the man jumped through the air and landed on the other side of the clearing. “How dare you interrupt this battle, I _will_ fight a worthy opponent!”

 

Carter fired another zat blast at the man, and the man formed another barrier of tree roots. “Cease this, I have no desire to fight the weak.”

 

“Sam, we’re running out of time,” Daniel said, seeing the countdown had reached fifty-nine seconds.

 

With a roar, the woman broke free of the roots, and half-jumped, half-flew to the woman in the vines. Desperately she started clawing at the bomb casing. “Don’t worry Lisana, I’ll free you, just hang on!”

 

“We need to disarm the bomb,” Carter said. “Peel off the cover, now!”

 

“There’s no cover, it’s the vines,” the woman shouted. “Get back, I have an idea!”

 

Carter and Daniel sprinted away, keeping alert for the attacker. “Colonel, we’re at a camp with two women, we’re facing an enemy that-”

 

The blast shook her to the core, and spinning around she saw a massive blast crater in the ground. There was a voice crying out for a woman named “Mirajane”, but Carter couldn’t afford to look away from the attacker. Some people would ask how she could be so sure that the man was the enemy if they could ever learn of what was happening. Carter would reply instantly that wrapping a woman in a bomb doesn’t scream “friend”.

 

“So she was not a worthy opponent after all,” the man said quietly. Scowling, he turned to Carter and Daniel. “And what of you two? Do you think you can prove yourselves against me?” Carter fired off two blasts with her zat, and again the man jumped away as Carter pulled up her P90. “Clearly you don’t. Otherwise you would be preparing yourselves for-”

 

Carter caught the man with a burst from her weapon, red marks quickly spreading on his right leg and stomach. He looked at Carter in shock, gingerly touching his wounds in surprise. “What is this? How did you hit me?”

 

“Get down on the ground, now,” Carter said, carefully moving to the man. “I can fix you up, but first you’ll get face-down on the ground and keep your hands where they’re visible.”

 

The man looked at her with puzzled eyes. “ _He must come from a culture where surrender isn’t an option._ ” Slowly lowering her weapon she crept forward. “You’re not dishonored, you clearly fought and fought well. Just let me fix you up and we can try to figure out what’s happening here.”

 

“I’m…I’m not worthy,” he whispered, falling to one knee. “I…I’m not worthy to fight…If a person without magic…How did you…fight…without magic?”

 

“ _He doesn’t even know what the technology is that allowed him to do that,_ ” Carter thought. “Daniel, go check on the women, I’ve got this one. Radio the colonel too, tell him what’s happened.”

 

“Mirajane, Mirajane!” The short-haired woman was clutching the other closely, both looking worse for wear after the blast.

 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay now,” Daniel said, taking out his IFAK. “We’re gonna fix her up, I promise. Here, take some of these and wrap up some of her wounds.” The girl nodded, Daniel satisfied for now that the girl wasn’t going to go into shock. “Miss, what’s your name, I need to know your name.” No response. Daniel quickly felt at her neck. “She’s still got a pulse, we need to get her a doctor.”

 

“We need to find Wendy,” the short-haired girl said. “She can heal Mirajane, we have to get to her before it’s too late.”

 

Carter slowly moved to the body of the man, his face frozen in shock. Reaching out a hand and shaking him, Carter was satisfied that he was dead. “Colonel, this is Carter, we’ve encountered hostile forces and two wounded individuals, over.”

 

O’Neill came back, the transmission was rough but it was there. “ _Roger that Carter, I’ve got you. We found a few of the locals, they’re taking us to a camp. We’re on the way, rendezvous there and we’ll decide what happens next._ ”

 

Checking the body again, Carter backed off and went for Daniel. “How is she?”

 

“Pulse is weak,” Daniel said. “Radio Jack, ask if he has a Wendy with him.” Carter did.

 

“ _She’s right here,_ ” O’Neill said. “ _Grab the wounded and hightail it, O’Neill out._ ”

 

“What is that,” the short-haired girl asked. Carter noticed her hair wasn’t “So blonde it was white”, it was gray, even as young as she sounded. “Is that some kind of communications lacrima?”

 

“it’s called a radio,” Carter said, checking over the woman named Mirajane before hefting the woman up in a fireman carry. “I’ll explain it in a bit, right now we need to get you both to the camp.” Carefully, Carter adjusted the woman’s body. “She’s lucky, I can’t even find anything worse than scratches and bruises, the explosion must have knocked her out as she was thrown clear. You’re lucky she got you out in time.”

 

“She took the blast for me,” she whispered, starting to tear up. “If you hadn’t come along, neither one of us would be here right now.”

 

“Easy, you just need to keep focused on here and now.” Daniel tried to redirect her mind to something that would occupy her attention. “What’s your name?”

 

“Lisanna, Lisanna Strauss,” she said, voice starting to stabilize. “That’s my sister, Mirajane. We’re both members of Fairy Tail.”

 

“Daniel Jackson,” Daniel said, nodding as the trio started moving. “This is Maj. Carter.” Carter gave a curt nod as she started jogging. “Is there anyone else on the island, anyone we need to rescue or be worried about?”

 

“We’re scattered all over the island,” Lisanna said. “We were having our S-Class trials, we’re supposed to split up and fight the strongest guild members, and once we finished we’d go back home.”

 

“You’re part of a guild?” Daniel turned to Lisanna, confident that Carter would be able to take care of Mirajane. “Your guild, does it have any objects, anything like a massive circular gate? Some kind of stone mirror?”

 

Lisanna shook her head. “I’ve never seen anything like that, master doesn’t keep anything like that in the guild hall.”

 

Daniel sighed. “ _Worth a shot._ ”

 

“We need to focus on moving,” Carter said, her voice sterner. “Lisanna, can you guide us to the camp?”

 

“Of course, but who are you? You aren’t Fairy Tail, and you don’t look like you’re from the Council. Are you from another guild?”

 

“We’re from an organization called the US Air Force,” Carter said. “Once we get everyone together Col. O’Neill will explain as much as he can.” Daniel nodded his agreement. Trying to explain everything right now would probably go right over the girl’s head.

 

It took a few minutes for Carter and Daniel to follow Lisanna to the camp. Daniel saw Jack and Teal’c there, with a small old man and a young girl with blue hair. A teenager with pink hair and a black scarf sat at the base of a tent with a trio of cats surrounding him. “ _Wait, the cats are wearing clothes and are standing on two legs._ ”

 

“Jack, why are there cats wearing clothes and standing on two legs?”

 

“Not now Daniel,” he said, walking with Wendy over to Carter as she set Mirajane down. “You sure you can fix her up kiddo?”

 

Wendy nodded, taking a breath and spreading her hands out over Mirajane’s motionless body. The light of her hands illuminated everyone around her, and Carter smiled a little. “My God, it must be integrated technology, almost like what we’ve seen with the Nox. Sir this could be a major discovery.”

 

“Another one of my children wounded,” Makarov said. “Will she be alright Wendy?”

 

Wendy nodded. “What about the others though? We don’t know where they are or what trouble they’re in.”

 

O’Neill looked up. “Can’t the cats fly?”

 

“Only for short times,” the black cat said. “The island is massive, larger than you might think. We’d need time to try and gather everyone together, and with Grimoire Heart attacking that’s something we don’t have.”

 

“Well get on your radio and contact them then,” O’Neill said. “You’ve got some way to signal everyone right?”

 

“We already used our signal to call everyone back,” Makarov said. “If they aren’t here yet it’s because they’re in trouble. We should split up and locate them.”

 

O’Neill looked up. “Woah, wait, no, bad idea. Splitting up gives your enemies a chance to pick us off one at a time. We need to stay together in teams, one team stays at the camp instead someone comes back and another team goes out to search.”

 

Makarov thought for a moment. “Hmmmm. Well, you aren’t wrong. We’ll need to send Wendy with you, Natsu should accompany you as well.”

 

O’Neill and Teal’c shared a look. “Uh, yeah, permission to request another guide sir?”

 

“I can go with them,” Lisanna said. “I’m a little roughed up, but I can guide them to the rest of the guild members.”

 

Makarov nodded his approval. “We will discuss all other matters later then. Colonel, those under my guild are my children. I’m trusting you to bring them back to me alive.”

 

“Don’t worry sir, we’ve pulled plenty of search and rescues in our time,” O’Neill said, checking the magazine in his weapon. “Okay kids, get your hiking boots on for this one.”

 

Lisanna smiled. “Boots nothing,” she said, her outfit turning into a bunny girl costume. “I’ll scout ahead, if I find anyone I’ll hop right back to you.”

 

O’Neill stared at the girl as she hoped away. “Teal’c, I think my eyes are malfunctioning, are you seeing…” O’Neill stopped as he looked at Teal’c. “Yeah, right, my eyes messed up. Okay, let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

Wendy didn’t know what to think of the strange men yet. As she followed them through the trees she tried to relate them to something she was familiar with. The older one wouldn’t be out of place in Fairy Tail, but the way he spoke to Master Makarov made it clear that he was a leader of his own guild. And what was an “air force”? “ _A guild that specializes in wind magic?_ ”

 

“Hey, cats, any chance one of you can give us some air cover?”

 

“I’ll go sir,” the blue cat shouted cheerily. Wings sprouting from his back, the cat shot into the air and started circling.

 

“Hey, over here,” Lisanna shouted. “I can hear a fight nearby, it sounds like my brother Elfman!”

 

“Scout ahead and stay hidden,” O’Neill barked. “Wendy, you make sure you stay down during the fight and don’t get caught by any bad guys, got it?”

 

“But I can fight with you,” Wendy shouted. “I’m not just a healer, I’m a dragon-slayer.”

 

“Look, you’re a kid, you’re staying out of the fight,” O’Neill shouted, in a voice that told Wendy he wasn’t going to let her argue the point.

 

“ _But I’m a full-fledged Fairy Tail wizard,”_ she thought. “ _Why wouldn’t he want another wizard to help him fight?_ ”

 

“I’ll take over then,” the black cat said. “You’ll need some muscle after all.”

 

O’Neill and Teal’c shared a look as they closed in on the fight. They could hear it now, crashes and slams echoing towards them from what sounded like buildings. “Teal’c, move to the left, zats only. I want to talk to one of these guys and figure out what the hell is happening here.”

 

Wendy watched as the two grabbed two strange devices from their belts, but before she could figure out what they did they emerged onto a cliffside. As they emerged from the tree line they saw Elfman and Evergreen fighting a giant monster, a metal beast with mechanical legs. A thin man with a gray pompadour cut stand to the back, watching as the monster attacked a muscular gray-haired man and a woman with long blonde hair and a short-cut dress.

 

“Teal’c, I think I’m starting to like this place.”

 

The pompadour turned and grinned. “And what’s this? More lost fairies come to offer themselves to the sacrificial altar of the demon’s gate? What fools-” The man didn’t finish, thanks to Teal’c blasting him with the zat. As the man fell, the creature let out a roar as it faded into nothingness.

 

O’Neill sighed. “Always with the monologues.” Walking over he started binding the man’s arms. “You two okay over there?”

 

“What kind of spell was that?” The man walked over, hand supporting the woman under her arm. “We’d been fighting him all day, you took him down with one blast.”

 

O’Neill motioned to the zat. “It’s called a gun, you should invest now.” Taking out two sets of zip ties, he bound the man and took the sunglasses.

 

“Brother!” Lisanna shifted back into her own shape and jumped at her brother. “I’m so glad you’re alright. You have to get back to the camp, Mirajane took on one of the Seven Kin. She’s hurt bad, we need to get back fast.”

 

Elfman looked over Teal’c and O’Neill. “Who are these two Lisanna? They aren’t with the Council are they?”

 

“We are explorers,” Teal’c said. “We wish to build a relationship with your world.”

 

“Quite a way to make a first impression,” the woman said, adjusting her glasses. “Thanks for the help old man.”

 

O’Neill looked shocked by the comment, but didn’t see any support coming from Teal’c.

 

“Hold on, I’ll heal you,” Wendy said, rushing over to the two.

 

“Carter, we found two of the people, a big muscular guy with gray hair and a woman with glasses and long blonde hair.”

 

The radio was full of static, but O’Neill could thankfully still make out Carter’s words. “ _Roger that sir, we’ve had…more come into the camp, they’re all wounded. Makarov is saying…Wendy back immediately._ ”

 

“Roger that, we’re on it.” Looking over, he saw Wendy using her abilities on the woman. “C’mon, we’ve gotta get back to the camp, there’s more wounded coming in.”

 

“I’m almost finished,” Wendy said, smiling as the lights on her hand dimmed. “Okay, I’m ready to go.”

 

“I’ll fly her back to camp,” the white cat said, sprouting her wings again.

 

O’Neill looked at the other two cats. “Well? Both of you get your wings out, give her some cover.”

 

“Just what kind of soldier are you?” The black cat stared down O’Neill despite staring up at him. “I’ve never met a more questionable military man than you before in my life.”

 

“Talk to me after you’ve killed a few gods,” O’Neill said. “Go on, get going already.” Glaring, the black cat jumped into the air after the other cats. Looking back, O’Neill saw Teal’c hefting the bound man over his shoulder. “Okay, let’s roll out.”

 

* * *

 

Arriving back at the camp, Carter walked over with a worried look. “Multiple wounded sir, Wendy has already started. I’ve been talking with Makarov, he’s been helping us get a map of the island.”

 

“Well good news for us then,” O’Neill said, nodding to Teal’c as the jaffa dropped the body on the ground with a loud thud. “We just got a legend for our map.”

 

“So, one of the members of Grimoire Heart’s Seven Kin of Purgatory,” Makarov said, walking over with a harsh look. “They invaded my island, tried to destroy our most sacred space, and nearly killed my children.”

 

O’Neill stepped between Makarov and the man. “Woah, easy, he’s more useful to us for information than just killing him now. Tempting it is, won’t lie.”

 

Makarov glared down at the limp body of the man, looking over at Elfman and Evergreen as they shuffled into the camp, heads still high and proud. “Give me one good reason to let him remain alive on this island longer than five minutes.”

 

“This invasion force will have needed a base to carry out their attacks,” Teal’c said. “He will undoubtedly have the location and be able to lead us to it.”

 

“There is no base,” Makarov said. “Grimoire Heart assaulted us from an airship. They could be anywhere on the island right now.”

 

O’Neill blinked. “This airship, it’s big? Imposing? Real evil looking?” Makarov nodded. “Safe to presume there’s probably a way to get aboard and blow it all to hell and sabotage the bad guy’s plans?”

 

“I’d presume so,” Makarov said. “Only we don’t know how to get aboard in the first place. We’ll have to find the others and stop the rest of Grimoire Heart.”

 

“Well I’m sure our new friend here can help us.” Walking over to the man, O’Neill sat him up and let him fall back onto the ground. “Rise and shine sweetie, it’s time for school.”

 

The man let out a yelp. “Ow! What is this, where am I? Why are my arms bound? You stupid fairies, how dare you bind the most-” The man whimpered at the sight of O’Neill’s zat pointed at his face.

 

“So, Grimoire Heart huh? I guess you’re the most reasonably dressed of the group then?” O’Neill kept grinning, the Fairy Tail wizards watching with rapt attention. “So, you got a name? Something that isn’t so depressing it’ll put me into a coma?”

 

The man tried to hold his head up and look down his nose at O’Neill, though to Carter it looked ridiculous. “I am one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, the wizard Rustyrose, and I-“

 

O’Neill sighed. “Really? Rustyrose? You literally could’ve made up any name you wanted and that’s what you go with?”

 

Rustyrose started to thrash about. “How dare you insult the great wizard himself, you impudent aged jerk, I’ll break out of these restraints and show you just how powerful I am!”

 

“He likes to talk doesn’t he,” Daniel observed. Teal’c nodded.

 

“Okay, look buddy, we’ve only got a little bit of time to work with here so let’s cut to the chase.” O’Neill dragged Rustyrose over to a map of the island and dropped him to the ground again. “That’s the map, tell us where the airship is holding over.”

 

Rustyrose sneered. “You arrogant fool, to imagine that your brutish ways could shatter the walls of discipline I’ve earned under the tutelage of Master Hades. The very idea is-“

 

“Do you have _any_ unvoiced thoughts?” O’Neill looked over to Teal’c. “Think you can crack him big guy?”

 

Teal’c nodded. Walking over, he picked up Rustyrose and carried him a distance away from the group.

 

Wendy looked over nervously. “What’s he about to do?”

 

Carter smiled for Wendy’s sake. “It’s alright, Teal’c has a special way of dealing with the bad guys.”

 

As Wendy watched, Teal’c just sat Rustyrose down and sat across from him. Rustyrose ranted for a few seconds, grinning haughtily at Teal’c. Teal’c didn’t respond. Rustyrose tried again, and still the warrior glared into the dark wizard. Rustyrose got more animated, but Teal’c slowly leaned forward. Rustyrose started to shout now, and Wendy could make out some of the words, but Teal’c didn’t react.

 

“Alright, alright, I’ll talk already!” Rustyrose jerked himself towards the others. “I’ll talk, just make him stop, it’s freaking me out!”

 

“You have to tell him,” O’Neill shouted, bending over to look at the map. “So, we’re here, tree’s here, any sign of a deli?”

 

“We think that the enemy might try to destroy this tree sir,” Carter said, tapping the center of the map. “Mr. Dreyar said that the tree has Fairy Tail’s first guild master buried under it. If it’s destroyed, there’s a strong chance a massive energy blast would obliterate the island.”

 

“An explosive tree.” O’Neill nodded. “Okay, I can work with this.”

 

“I have the location of the airship O’Neill,” Teal’c said. “It is located to the Northeast, and has a sizable contingent of guards.”

 

“We can handle them no problem,” Natsu said, slamming his fist into his palm. “We don’t need you getting in the way.”

 

“And good morning to you too,” O’Neill said, putting on his most condescending smile. “Care to work out what’s gonna happen next with us?”

 

Makarov stood before Natsu with a forceful authority the boy couldn’t ignore. “Natsu, these people are here to help us. They have saved us from dangerous dark wizards. You might not like them boy, but I say they are allowed on this island and will aid us. If you take issue with that, that you keep in mind that Lucy and Erza are still out there.”

 

Natsu’s face froze in shock. “Oh crap, Lucy!” Natsu started running for the trees, O’Neill raising his zat before Makarov held it in place. “Happy, Panther Lily, go after him.” The blue and black cat took off, Makarov sighing as he turned back to O’Neill. “You’ll have to forgive Natsu. The boy can be a handful in the best of times. Put his friends in danger and he would move the very sky to make sure they’re safe.”

 

“Well that’s a good way to get yourself killed where I’m from,” O’Neill said. “How’re the wounded doing?”

 

“Their medical technology is incredibly advanced sir, Wendy’s got nearly all of them stable and already recovering.”

 

Makarov looked up, confused. “Technology? What are you talking about?”

 

“We can talk about that stuff later,” O’Neill said. “Teal’c, you take muscles over there and go after the kid. Carter and I’ll plan out the next moves against the jerks in the blimp.”

 

Elfman stood proudly. “Alright, time to show you how a real _man_ in Fairy Tail handles his problems.” As Elfman ran after Natsu, Teal’c paused to raise an eyebrow to O’Neill before running after the muscular wizard.

 

“We still need to find several others,” Makarov said. “Cana and GIldarts, Gray, Juvia, and Erza, not to mention Lucy and Loke.”

 

“What exactly were you doing on the island anyway,” Daniel asked. “I mean this place seems pretty distant from civilization, you had to have a reason for coming all this way.”

 

Makarov nodded. “It was for our annual S-class trials. Every Fairy Tail wizard who I believe is capable is called to Tenrou Island to be challenged, to see if they’re worthy of becoming an S-class wizard. This ground is sacred to us, we never could imagine that we would be attacked here by a dark guild.”

 

O’Neill nodded. “Safe to say the guard was asleep at their post?”

 

Makarov shook his head. “I told you, this is sacred ground. There would be no need to keep guards here. At least, there wasn’t before.”

 

O’Neill nodded. “You think _maybe_ you should’ve taken the fact that you had enemies into consideration when you made that decision?” Makarov grumbled for a second.

 

“Once we find the airship our objective is obvious,” Carter said, trying to steer the conversation to a more productive path. “The problem is getting out once we blow their reactor. I suggest we try to seize control instead, make sure that we have a means to leave the island and get the wounded to medical attention.”

 

“Wendy can handle them just fine on her own,” Makarov said. “I won’t take anything belonging to a dark guild either, there’s no telling what kind of dangerous work they’ve done to their craft.”

 

“Well unless you’ve got a spare boat we’ve got no real option,” O’Neill opined. “I doubt that girl can transform into a boat or a whale to get us outta here.”

 

“Jack, maybe we should listen to the gentleman who knows what’s going on around here better than us?” Daniel turned to Makarov. “Would there be any way to contact your guild, a messenger animal or some kind of mental ability?”

 

Makarov shook his head. “The only ship we have is on the shore, right in the path of the airship. We’d have to destroy it just to get there.”

 

O’Neill sighed. “Carter, did we have anything on the FRED that would be able to take that thing down?”

 

Carter shook her head. “It’s got plenty of supplies still, we can grab it from the cliffside and lead it here.” O’Neill nodded, Carter and Daniel rising to get the supply wagon.

 

“Wait.” Makarov rose. “Lisanna, go with them, make sure they return safely.”

 

As the three set off, O’Neill turned to Makarov. “Cards on the table, why don’t you really want to use that airship?”

 

Makarov looked up confused. “I just told you, there’s powerful dark magic involved in that airship. I don’t want any of my children going anywhere near it unless we’re to destroy it entirely.”

 

O’Neill sighed. “We’re not talking about _magic_ here, we’re talking about a machine. If there’s some kind of mechanical problem involving weak shielding against radiation we’ll figure it out when we get there.”

 

Makarov laughed, a jovial laugh that O’Neill realized wasn’t directed at him, per-se. “That would be a wonderful thing, I agree. If this were just some machine I would agree that we could commandeer it.”

 

O’Neill shook his head. “Hold on, you really think this is magic?”

 

* * *

 

“Wow, what kind of lacrima is inside here?” Lisanna looked behind her as the FRED rolled obediently along behind Carter and Daniel.

 

Carter chuckled. “It’s called sonar, it bounces a pulse of sound off of me and adjusts its distance based on how long it takes for the pulse to return. From where we’re from it’s a relatively simple creation, we can show you how to make them one day.”

 

“That’s incredible,” Lisanna said. “And there’s all this stuff in it too, you said some of its food?”

 

Daniel nodded awkwardly. “Well technically, yes, some of it is food.”

 

Carter chuckled again. “So, what kind of technology do you have? From what I’ve seen it must be incredibly advanced.”

 

“You mean our magic?” Lisanna shook her head. “I honestly don’t know anything too useful. I’ve always just had it, you know? All my family has this ability actually, but Mirajane is the best of the three of us.”

 

“So it’s a hereditary ability,” Daniel said. “Something about your family makes it possible to make these outfits appear?”

 

Lisanna nodded. “I suppose so.” She started giggling. “Really, no one questions it when their magical abilities awaken, we’re all so used to it by now that we learn to develop our abilities and join the guilds.”

 

Daniel nodded. “Like the ancient craft guilds on Earth, you learn your craft and trade at the feet of a master. And each city has a guild?”

 

“Well there’s two types of guilds,” Lisanna said, her tone suddenly downturn. “Some guilds are like Grimoire Heart, dark guilds that abuse their powers to steal and hurt others.”

 

Carter cringed. “Not many stone masons that did that.”

 

“No, but the modern organized crime families we’re used to started as almost a dark mirror of the professional guilds in medieval Europe. I mean it’s basically just organized crime, only with more…” Daniel motioned about the island. “More magic.”

 

Carter sighed as she walked back to the camp. “Magic” had been a constant for SG-1, and every time there had been a technology or sleight of hand or just plain lying committed by their foes and even unfriendly neutral parties hiding the tech that made it all possible. The Nox, the Asgard, the Goa’uld, even SG-1 had been mistaken for magical beings. Only SG teams seemed to go through the trouble of explaining that what the planets thought of as magic was in reality simply advanced technologies they could learn for their own needs. “ _These guys are gonna need some work though._ ”

 

Walking back into the camp, Carter saw O’Neill shaking his head. “Oh c’mon, we’ve fought things that claimed they were _gods_ , and they actually believed they were gods. News flash, they died more than half the time.”

 

“And I’m telling you that just because you defeated gods doesn’t ignore the fact that here, for us, magic is real.” Makarov was trying his best to glare at O’Neill, and was honestly failing at seeming even half as intimidating.

 

“Jack, we’re supposed to be finding new allies remember?” Daniel held up an MRE packet. “They’re already going to hate us after they try these.”

 

Makarov looked over at the trio, but then noticed the FRED. “What on Earth is that?”

 

“That sir is the Field Remote Expeditionary Device,” O’Neill said. “Enough room in this to carry three weeks worth of supplies and equipment for extended field expeditions. Yours for only $45,000 per unit.” O’Neill leaned over and stage whispered, “Man-hours and overtime really drive the prices up.”

 

Makarov looked with curiosity at the device. “This thing, where are the lacrima?”

 

“That’s just it master,” Lisanna said cheerily. “They said it doesn’t use a lacrima, or even magic. They said it’s some kind of machine.” Makarov was stunned. No lacrima? No magic? Who had ever heard of such a thing?

 

“We do have plenty of explosives sir,” Carter said, tapping a sack towards the bottom of the device. “If it turns out we can’t seize the airship we can at least take it out of the sky permanently.”

 

“Perfect,” O’Neill said, turning to Makarov. “Sir, if you can get us aboard that sucker we’ll make the call as a group and move on from there. Nothing else we can make a raft out of some of these trees.”

 

Makarov nodded, taken away from the device. “Very well colonel, we can follow that approach for a short time. Once my children are brought together we can proceed against Grimoire Heart and Hades.”

 

O’Neill threw his arms up. “We aren’t even in our own _universe_ and there’s still guys like this, are we just that unlucky?”

 

Daniel looked like he was about to say something before Carter gave him a quick elbow to the side.

 

* * *

 

Natsu roared, trying to land the hit that would finally put the big white freak down for good. And every time he tried, Lucy came flying out of nowhere to slug him in the jaw. “Argh, c’mon Lucy, stop doing that!”

 

“You think I want to?!” Lucy was screaming as she flew through the air, the albino giant chuckling with a tone that made it obvious that he didn’t fully realize what he was doing. “Grab the doll Natsu, get me out of this!”

 

Natsu wound up for another go when he heard footfalls coming from behind him. Sparing one second to glance, he saw Elfman and the other man, “Tealc”, running to him. “ _Good, Eflman can tell everyone how I took these jerks down without killing them._ ”

 

Before Natsu could call out to Elfman, Teal’c leveled his staff and fired three blasts and Kain. Watching, the dragonslayer was speechless as the albino foe collapsed in a heap on the ground. Screaming, Lucy slammed into the ground along with Mr. Cursey.

 

Elfman ran up to his comrade. “Lucy, you okay?”

 

Lucy groaned. “I’m really learning to hate lost magic,” she grumbled. “Natsu, you alright?”

 

Natsu didn’t say anything, he just glared at Teal’c as the intruder approached Kain’s body cautiously. “You jerk,” he said, his voice far too placid to be normal. “You think you can just go around killing people? What do you think, that that just solves every problem you come across? Why is it you can just murder whoever you want and think it’s alright?”

 

“This man was attempting to kill you, from my observation using a friend of yours to accomplish the task.” Teal’c turned to Natsu. “Are you saying that you would have rather risked your friend’s death and yours on the slim chance of stopping him?”

 

Natsu clenched his fists. “That’s not the point, we could’ve beaten this fat lard any day, but you didn’t let us!”

 

“The objective in battle is to eliminate your adversary,” Teal’c said, his serenity a frightening mirror to Natsu’s rage. “If you do not eliminate him, he will return to wreak his vengeance upon you and your loved ones.”

 

Natsu’s face started to twitch, and slowly he started walking towards Teal’c. “I don’t care what you tell me, there’s no reason to just keep killing people like this. You act like this is the only way to do things, but why? This is Fairy Tail turf, and I’m getting sick of you and your pals acting like you can act however you want when you’re here!”

 

Elfman expected Lucy to say something, but looking down he realized that her eyes were locked on Kain’s corpse. The cape on his back had been burned away, leaving three massive burn marks on his back. The wounds still steamed, the heat intense enough to raise the skin in a circle around the impact point, even blistering it close enough to the mark. Elfman felt his stomach turn, he’d never seen anything like it in his life.

 

“You don’t care who you kill do you,” Natsu growled. “I won’t let you hurt anyone else, I’ll stop you before-”

 

The dragonslayer collapsed, shocked again by Teal’c’s zat. “Quickly, we must return to the camp before our enemies find us.”

 

Elfman hefted Natsu atop his shoulder. “C’mon Lucy, we need to get outta here. Master has a plan to stop Grimoire Heart.”

 

Lucy nodded, ripping her gaze away from the limb body of her foe. “Cana,” she mumbled. “I don’t know where Cana went, I collapsed and she went off without me.”

 

“We’ll find her,” Elfman said, looking towards the distant form of Teal’c. “I don’t want to think about what would happen if they found one of us dead.”

 

* * *

 

Makarov sighed, looking over the map of the island with O’Neill and Carter as Lucy went to see Wendy and Natsu was laid down with the wounded. “We should have enough to send two groups out from the camp to search for the others. I’m worried that Cana and Juvia were attacked by Grimoire Heart. The fact that we haven’t heard anything from Gray and Loke worries me as well.”

 

“Well we’d need to plot out a grid of their most likely locations,” Carter said. “Based on where they were and the most likely locations they would move to when they try to return to the camp.”

 

As they spoke, it started raining on the camp. O’Neill shrugged. “Huh, did you get any word about rain in the forecast?”

 

“It’s Juvia,” Lucy said. “She’s the only one that would make a rainstorm out of nowhere, someone must have made her angry.”

 

Daniel went to Lucy’s side. “What do you mean, you’re saying this friend of yours can control the weather?”

 

“Well, she’s got control over water,” Lucy said. “If her emotions go too far out of control, she can make it start raining without her meaning to do it.”

 

Daniel motioned towards the forests. “So we can use this to find her then, we can follow the storm to the most intense area, right?”

 

O’Neill whistled to the cats. “You three get up there and start circling the island, send one of you back when you find a trace of this Juvia.” The cats nodded, taking off into the rain. “Makarov, there’s gotta be some way to locate these kids, a tracking system, some kind of device you put on them before they hit the beaches.”

 

“I didn’t think I would need to track them,” Makarov said, sounding angry. O’Neill didn’t try to take it personally, he knew it was coming from the situation. “What’s worse, we don’t know where Gildarts is. If he’s been captured or taken out then the situation is far worse than any of us could imagine.”

 

“Does Gildarts have information these people can use against us?”

 

“Worse major. If Gildarts is captured, he could be made to act against us. As one of the most powerful members of Fairy Tail, he could possibly destroy the whole island in seconds.”

 

O’Neill got up. “Then let’s get moving huh? No reason to wait around and let these lunatics keep moving through the island. We destroy their airship, we force the remaining ones to come out and realize they’re cut off. Meanwhile, you send some of your people to search for Gildarts.”

 

Makarov shook his head. “You realize the dangers of this don’t you? Grimoire heart is one of the strongest Dark Guilds on the planet. If you went against them you’d be going up against a force of nature.”

 

Daniel shrugged. “Well when you come back from the dead you learn to live a little.”

 

Makarov’s face twisted into a shocked contortion. “How can you not believe in magic and live through the things you say you have?” From the look O’Neill saw on Carter’s face, she was going to have a nice long liberty after she left this place.

 

“Master!” Everyone looked up to see Happy flying back. “We found Juvia, and she managed to convince one of the Grimoire Heart wizards to stop fighting!”

 

O’Neill gave a thumbs up. “Good, lead us there and we’ll help with the escort. Any of those Grimoire jerks show up we can take another one out. Carter, Teal’c, with me. Daniel, help the master out with whatever he needs here.”

 

As the three followed Happy into the trees, Elfman and Evergreen walked towards Makarov. “Master, just who are these people? They’re not like anyone I’ve ever met before.”

 

“You haven’t met anyone like them before,” Makarov said, as he looked into his own past. “I’ve known many like them. They’re the greatest of allies to have, and the most frightening of enemies to face. I hate to say this, but in this fight against Grimoire Heart they may be the most valuable factor to helping us survive.”

 

Evergreen shook her head. “I can’t believe you’d say that, it’s like you’re saying that we aren’t good enough to fight them.”

 

“You all are, I’d never doubt that.” Makarov looked to the woods. “Only this is something beyond what you are all used to. This isn’t a battle. This is a war.” That was when the shuffling hit his ears, and he saw Natsu and Lucy running after the group. “No, no come back!”

 

O’Neill followed the cat through the trees, the rain-soaked ground making every step a potentially messy one. Only the sound of battle struck O’Neill’s ears again, and the white cat came flying back. “Thank goodness you’re all here! Juvia’s been injured, and Gray’s fighting with another member of Grimoire Heart!”

 

O’Neill groaned. “How many of these lunatics are there already? Alright, we save Gray, we stop these idiots, and we finally get some answers.”

 

Rushing after Happy and Carla, O’Neill and Carter went for cover when they saw a woman fighting with a boy in a pink Hawaiian shirt and shorts in ankle-high water. Ice and spheres flew everywhere, until as O’Neill watched the boy created a massive column of ice with a woman encased inside. Before O’Neill could ask what was going on, he heard voices from behind. “Gray!”

 

“I thought I told you to stay back in the camp!” As O’Neill turned around to give Lucy a talking to, she and Natsu ran past as Lucy wrapped her arms around Gray.

 

“It appears they did not listen O’Neill.”

 

Carter took out her zat and closed in on the woman in the ice. “Lucy, have you seen this woman before?”

 

Gray was looking every direction at once. “Can someone tell me who these people are?”

 

“I’m O’Neill, that’s Carter, he’s Teal’c, who’s she?”

 

Lucy started to cry a little. “We were so worried Gray, we’ve been running all over the island trying to find everyone.”

 

The woman kept laughing from inside the ice. “It doesn’t matter now, whoever you have on this island is useless as you all. With Zeref taken to Master Hades the Grand Arcana will become reality, all the world’s magic will be ours to command.”

 

O’Neill raised his zat and blasted her unconscious. “Do you people have _any_ unvoiced thoughts?” Teal’c gave O’Neill a look.

 

Gray slipped out of Lucy’s grasp and glared at O’Neill. “Look, what are you doing here? This island is for Fairy Tail wizards only, does Gramps know you’re here?”

 

“Your master knows we are here, he is waiting for you back at the camp.” Teal’c looked up at the woman. “If this is a member of Grimoire Heart, we should take her in custody back to the camp as well.”

 

“It’s okay Gray, they’re on our side.” Lucy looked up to the woman knocked out in the ice. “She won’t be causing any more trouble for a while thanks to that blast anyway.”

 

“Gray!” Turning, the group saw a woman with long red hair running towards them in a very thin bikini. O’Neill was locked onto her until Teal’c waved a hand in front of his face. “Who are these people, what are they-”

 

“We can explain once we get back to the camp,” Carter said, trying to keep O’Neill from saying anything. “Right now, let’s focus on getting this woman into custody.”

 

Safely back at the camp and regrouped, Erza let herself bask in the sun as she heard the tale of SG-1’s travels to Tenrou Island. “That’s quite the story to tell colonel. If it weren’t for the fact we’ve gone to other dimensions as well I’d find it very hard to believe. Still, you’ve helped us fight against a dangerous enemy, and saved our own. I agree with our master, you are honorable, and I’m glad to have you here.”

 

O’Neill let himself have a little smile. “Well, that’s a nice change of pace.”

 

Daniel jumped in. “Ms. Scarlet, once we’re done here we need a way to return to our own dimension, now do you or your master know of any kind of ancient relics, a type of stone mirror or a massive circular gateway of some kind?”

 

Erza shook her head. “No, I’ve never seen anything like that, but it’s safe to say none of the other guilds would either. Anyone with the power to travel between dimensions would be the strongest guild in all Fiore.”

 

“What about your government?”

 

Erza shook her head. “No, the government would use it far more often, we would know if they were.” SG-1 shared a look with each other. “For now, our mission is to drive Grimoire Heart from our island. We’re still missing Cana and Gildarts, I’ll go looking for them and-”

 

“No need,” a voice said from just outside the camp. Two men shuffled into the clearing, one dressed in black with a helmet carrying a limp body behind him, the other a green-haired man carrying a woman under her arm. “We didn’t think we’d have to come back so soon.”

 

Evergreen stood and ran over. “Freed, Bickslow!” She wrapped her arms around the two, crying as she pulled them close. “I can’t believe you two, I thought you’d been captured by Grimoire Heart!”

 

The two patted Evergreen and comforted her, as O’Neill shook his head. “What is with this place and weird hair colors?”

 

“I’m glad to see you both made it safely here,” Makarov said, smiling at the two men. “And you brought back our last two missing. Well done both of you. Sit down, and we’ll explain everything.”

 

After a good hour, and everyone caught up on just what was happening, Makarov started pacing about the camp and staring at the captives Fairy Tail had gained. “Colonel, what do we do with them?”

 

O’Neill looked around in confusion. “What do you mean what do we do with them? You said they’re criminals here, we let them stand trial and your government decides what happens to them.”

 

“My thoughts precisely,” Makarov said. “We know where Grimoire Heart’s airship is. We know they’ve lost their best fighters, and that the only one who remains is Hades. We need to destroy that airship, take down Grimoire Heart forever!”

 

“We can infiltrate two teams onto the airship as another team provides backup from the ground should it be necessary,” Carter said, drawing out a rough outline of the ship after Teal’c convinced Rustyrose to give up more information. “We move through two sides of the ship, one team will confront Hades as the other takes out the ship’s main power system. Levy will stay here with Lisana, Cana, Gildarts, and the prisoners. Any questions?”

 

Natsu raised his hand. “Yeah, who put you in charge?” This was swiftly answered by Erza shoving Natu’s face into the dirt.

 

“Everyone remember, this is our chance to stop Grimoire Heart and save our island. This is Fairy Tail’s sacred land, and all of you have proven yourselves worthy of your titles! Lick your wounds and ready your spirits! Know that you are the best of the wizard guilds in all the world! Show them the strength of Fairy Tail!” The group let out a cheer at Makarov’s speech, and quickly organized themselves. Wendy healed the group as best she could, SG-1 handing out painkillers to handle the rest. The team took fresh ammunition from the FRED, and after making sure their captives wouldn’t cause any more trouble, moved from the camp. Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, and the Cats and SG-1 looked at the ship with determined stares.

 

The airship sat just off the island, floating like a menacing stormcloud in the skies. “So, power-happy lunatic?”

 

“I dunno Jack, I was gonna go for the more ancient evil type.” Daniel looked around. “Say, how are we getting aboard?”

 

Gray shouted out, “Ice make stairs!” A massive staircase of ice sprung from the ground to the airship, mooring the craft to the island. O’Neill didn’t hesitate, leading the charge up the side to the target. “Carter, you and Teal’c go down to the generator and see about destroying that thing. Lucy, cats, go with’em, you’ll probably be good backup. Rest of us will move on and take down Hades. Natsu?” Natsu glared at O’Neill. “Go nuts.”

 

Natsu blinked, then started laughing. “Alright, I’m all fired up now! Watch this!” Taking a breath, Natsu let out a massive gout of flame through the airship, lighting the entire deck up with searing flames. Following behind, O’Neill scanned the deck of the ship only to find no one waiting for them. “Everyone move slow, this guy’s baiting us into a trap.”

 

“The trap is already sprung,” Hades said. Striding into view, O’Neill couldn’t say he was surprised at the sight. He was an older man, missing an eye and will a billowing cape behind him. “You have defeated the Seven Kin of Purgatory, and the great Tenrou Tree stands. Still, your loss is at hand, for once I find Zeref I will…” Hades paused, staring at O’Neill. “Who is this?”

 

“Col. Jack O’Neill, abracadabra.”

 

Hades eyes narrowed. “Unbelievable. Not only did you dare to let trespassers on the sacred soil of Tenrou, they aren’t even wizards?” Hades threw off his cape and stood over the team. “I’ll make sure that they are the first to die.”

 

O’Neill fired a burst, and like before the rounds slammed into Hades. Only the old man didn’t fall. As O’Neill watched, he staggered back, only to stand tall and glare at O’Neill. O’Neill watched as the bullet wounds sealed themselves, and the rounds tumbled out of the man. “Daniel?”

 

“Jack, I think we’re a little outclassed here,” Daniel said as he shuffled back. “My advice is to let the wizards handle this.”

 

Natsu roared. “You’re damn right we will! Take this you old bastard!” With a battle cry Natsu threw a massive fireball at Hades, the radiant heat forcing O’Neill and Daniel to throw their arms up to save their faces. Despite the intensity, O’Neill watched as the fireball flew for Hades. Then how Hades caught the fire with his bare hands and made it dissipate. “What the, how’d you do that?”

 

Hades smiled. “As far as last words go, that was beyond pathetic.”

 

Inside the ship, Carter and Lucy maneuvered through the corridors, following the cats deeper into the bowls of the ship. “Cripes, who made this thing?”

 

“I know,” Carter grunted, pushing herself onwards. “These are terrible designs for maintenance, there’s no room to ensure that all systems are functioning properly or even to carry out emergency repairs in combat.”

 

Lucy shook her head. “Yeah, of course, that’s exactly what I was thinking.”

 

“Quickly you two, it’s this way!” Carla ran further ahead, and after a few more seconds Carter and Lucy pushed their way to a small open area bathed in a sickly purple glow. Looking around, Carter saw that before them was a massive, pulsing, almost organic generator. “Here, this has to be the Grimoire Heart.”

 

Carter shrugged. “Well, guess it was literal.”

 

Lucy stared at it in awe. “It’s so huge, how do we destroy it?”

 

“Odds are that there’s some kind of energy barrier or possibly radiation that could do some damage if we got too close.” Carter set her pack down and pulled out a block of C4 and two detonators. “I think if we can blow those tanks on the side we can damage the system to a point where the airship is unable to continue. Teal’c, fire a staff blast and see what happens.”

 

“Hey, there’s voices behind the door!” Carter heard at least a platoon of men slamming on the door to the generator.

 

“Change of plans,” she whispered. “Teal’c, blast anyone who tries to get inside, we’ll set the charges and run like her through the ceiling. Lucy, do you have anything that can get us out of here that way?”

 

Lucy smiled. “I’ve got just the spirit. Plant those things and let’s blow this place!”

 

Carter nodded, tossing a block to Lucy. “Place it on the floor, flip the switch, and get back here, we’ll have thirty seconds once you do.”

 

Above them, lightning crashed and fire blazed as Laxus and Natsu went after Hades. O’Neill and Daniel ducked from cover to cover, firing off bursts as the great dark wizard went after them. Erza and Gray harried Hades from the sides, as Wendy kept firing off bursts of Sky Dragon magic. “ _What is this,_ ” Hades thought. “ _Wizards are one thing, but they’re fighting alongside non-magical whelps! They aren’t even Fairy Tail associates, they’re just common men, and here they are fighting with these fools!_ ” Natsu threw another blast toward Hades, the elder wizard barely deflecting it in time to respond to Laxus hurling more lightning at him. “ _The One Magic will be mine, no one else will-_ “

 

The center of the deck erupted upwards, as Taurus and Panther Lily jumped up, Carla and Happy following as Carter, Teal’c and Lucy jumped for the deck. “Run, the generator’s about to blow!”

 

O’Neill didn’t wait, he grabbed Wendy and started booking for the stairs. The others saw the running, but Natsu remained behind, still sparing with Hades. “Natsu, if you don’t want to be barbequed get moving now!”

 

Natsu turned to respond, but the deck erupted upwards and engulfed Natsu and Hades. O’Neill went flying back off the deck, only to be caught by Panther Lily. Looking at the massive cat, O’Neill adjusted himself. “Never seen a workout routine get results that quick.”

 

“Natsu, did he get off?”

 

O’Neill shook his head. Looking down, he saw the airship falling to the ocean, pieces falling to the seas as the generator collapsed. That was when O’Neill saw it, a flash of pink smoking as it fell to the ocean. “There, he’s there, go get him dammit!”

 

Panther Lily turned down, O’Neill forcing his flight training to come back as the giant cat weaved through the air to get to Natsu. O’Neill braced himself in case of a water landing, but Panther Lily grabbed Natsu just before the wizard slammed into the water.

 

“Natsu!” Running over, Lucy helped Natsu onto the ground as the others stared at the unmoving body.

 

“Well what’s the matter,” O’Neill said, stumbling out of Panther Lily’s arms. “Wendy’s got powers, get’em going!”

 

Wendy snapped out of her shock, quickly healing up Natsu as best she could. Hacking, Natsu sat up and saw the airship falling into the seas. He broke out smiling, laughing as he jumped up and started slamming O’Neill with pats on the back. “That was incredible, you wrecked that whole ship without breaking a sweat! Man, whatever you guys use, maybe you aren’t so bad after all!” O’Neill desperately looked around for an explanation, but found none.

 

Makarov walked to the edge of the cliff, looking down onto the waters below as they churned with the wreckage of the airship. “Goodbye, Precht.”

 

Finally making their way back to the camp, Makarov was tired enough to collapse as he saw the defense team rising to great them.

 

“Laxus!” The Thunder Dragon team rushed to their leader, tackling him to the ground as they bawled about how much they missed him. Gajeel and Levy watched as the group returned, Gajeel looking for all the world like a partially finished mummy to O’Neill.

 

“I knew you kids could do it,” Gildarts said. “Now we’re all finished here, I vote we go home and get some rest.”

 

“Yeah, you know I was thinking the exact same thing? Only a slight difference in my plans, we find a way to get back to _our_ home considering there’s a much longer distance involved.”

 

“Don’t fear colonel,” Makarov said as he took a seat near the fire. “Wendy should have us all healed up and set to leave before too long. For now, we need rest. I need to speak with my grandson, the rest of you get ready for bed.”

 

Erza looked over to Rustyrose and Ultear. “What about them master? Are we just going to leave them there?”

 

“We’ll set a rotating guard, every four hours we’ll swap out.” O’Neill went over to the FRED and pulled out some sleeping bags. “C’mon, we’re burning time. Daniel, you want to break out some food?”

 

Daniel looked at the MREs half-heartedly. “Sure Jack, I’m just so ready to have some.”

 

* * *

 

Morning broke slowly over the island, but Jack was still up from his post on watch. Rustyrose and Ultear hadn’t moved through the night, though Lucy had thrown some blankets over them out of pity. Still, the two weren’t causing too much trouble for O’Neill to be worried about them making any moves. Standing up to stretch, O’Neill thought he saw movement in the tree line. “Hey, anyone awake?”

 

One of the group groaned, and O’Neill saw one of the women standing up, with blue hair down to her shoulders. “Is everything alright colonel?”

 

O’Neill motioned to the trees. “I think I saw someone out there, scan the trees on that side to make sure this isn’t an ambush. Can you handle that Blue?”

 

The woman nodded, kneeling to get a better look at everything around her. “Do you think it’s a survivor of Grimoire Heart wait a second, did you just call me ‘Blue’?”

 

“Look, there’s over a dozen of you, I need time to remember okay?” Scoping his P90, O’Neill scanned the trees. “Any chance you could flush them out, literally?”

 

“Not without possibly missing them,” Juvia whispered back. “Can you see them through your gun?”

 

O’Neill gave Juvia a look. “Does it look like I have a scope on this thing?”

 

“Excuse me for not knowing anything about travelers from another universe!”

 

“Juvia?”

 

O’Neill and Juvia looked to the trees, and saw a pink-haired girl walking towards them. She looked worse for wear, barely standing, practically shuffling their way. “Juvia, what happened?”

 

“Meredy?” Juvia stood up and started walking over. O’Neill didn’t know what was happening yet, but didn’t dare lower his weapon. “Thank goodness. Grimoire Heart is done for Meredy, Hades and the airship are destroyed.”

 

“What about Ultear?” Meredy looked over to the restrained woman barely stirring on the ground. “Is she safe?”

 

“Woah, hold it,” O’Neill said, taking his weapon off safe and putting his finger on the trigger. “No one’s going anywhere until we figure how to get the government here.”

 

“What?” Meredy looked to Juvia. “Please, you have to let us leave the island. I promise, we won’t cause any more trouble, we just want to go away from this place.”

 

“No one’s going anywhere,” O’Neill shouted firmly. “Blue, go wake up the others and get this one under restraints.”

 

Juvia shook her head. “No, you can’t! Meredy isn’t evil, she’s just made bad choices. She’s not our enemy, you need to give her a chance.”

 

“Then why’s she trying to free our prisoner?” O’Neill slowly rose, backing toward the camp. “Carter, Makarov, someone get up already!”

 

“Who’s shouting,” Elfman grunted. “I’ll show them what happens when they wake up a real man the wrong way.”

 

“Sir?” Carter jumped out of bed and chambered a round in the P90. “Colonel, what’s wrong?”

 

“Girl saying we should let a captive go,” O’Neill said, as the camp was roused. “Get me another set of restraints.”

 

Juvia tried to wave them off. “No, please, you don’t understand, she’s not our enemy, she’s good now!”

 

“Colonel, please,” Makarov said. “This isn’t the world you’re used to, remember? You need to let us determine if she’s a threat or not.” Stepping in front of O’Neill, Makarov walked up to the girl without even a flinch. “Why are you here child?”

 

Meredy knelt on one knee before Makarov. “Please sir, I’m not here to cause your guild any more trouble. I just want to take Ultear away from this place, so that we can both be at peace.”

 

Makarov nodded towards Rustyrose. “What about him? Wasn’t he a member of your guild as well?”

 

Meredy looked away. “No one really liked that guy honestly, you can do whatever with him.”

 

O’Neill nodded. “Okay, one down.”

 

“What are you all still doing here!?” Everyone turned again, seeing a man with black hair wearing robes staring at everything that was happening. “Don’t you realize what’s about to happen? He’s on his way!”

 

O’Neill shrugged. “Well why not, everyone else is here.”

 

Carter was about to move towards the man when she noticed Makarov rooted to the ground, staring in terror at the man. “No, no it can’t be, he’s not real.”

 

Teal’c circled around the man, staff raised and ready to fire. “Identify yourself now, or I will be forced to fire on you.”

 

The man in robes spun around, staring at Teal’c with confusion. “What on Earth happened to you? Why is that vile thing inside you? No, no it doesn’t matter, you all need to leave the island.”

 

O’Neill looked around. “Will someone please tell me what’s happening here?”

 

The black robed man looked like he was about to go on but stopped, seeing Natsu rise from his sleeping bag. Suddenly, as the sun started to crest the distant horizon, the man’s eyes started to water.

 

“Okay, enough of this!” O’Neill pointed to the man. “You, name, now!”

 

The man snapped out of his stare, and started to back up. “You, you don’t know me?”

 

O’Neill gestured around the camp. “Oh, sorry, the memo never got to my desk.”

 

“Lord Zeref.” Meredy seemed to have forgotten that she was there for Ultear. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Okay, we have a name,” O’Neill said. “Zeref, who’s coming for us?”

 

“The Black Dragon,” Zeref said, looking skyward. “Acnologia is coming for this island.”

 

Gildarts stumbled on his prosthetic leg. “What? No, he was nowhere near Tenrou when I left, that’s impossible.”

 

Zeref glared at Ultear and Meredy. “He was summoned by the immense amount of magical energy created by Hades and his minions. He wants to destroy this island, destroy everyone he finds here.”

 

Daniel blinked. “A dragon? Jack, this might be something we’ll need backup for, if we don’t have access to a mirror or gate we’d be literally at the mercy of this thing.”

 

“The FRED has plenty of explosives.” Lowering his weapon for now, O’Neill looked over to Makarov. “Think we can trust the girl for now?” No response. “Yo, Mak, you there?” Makarov was too busy glaring at Zeref with a visible venom. The old man’s body was shaking, like he was ready to launch himself at Zeref and demolish the man. “Okay, we’ll get back to him.”

 

“The dark wizard Zeref,” Mirajane whispered. “The creator of the demons, a walking specter of death. Why is he here, why is he on our island?”

 

“Look, should we shoot him or not?”

 

Meredy stretched out a hand. “No, don’t! Zeref is the most powerful dark wizard in history, he’d annihilate you!”

 

O’Neill threw up a hand. “Well will someone please back up and figure out what’s going on around here?”

 

Makarov stepped forward, stalking up to Zeref as a yellow light bathed the old man. “I’ll tell you this once, you monster. You must leave this island, before I throw you off. I don’t care how strong you are, or about the fact that you truly are the most powerful dark wizard in history. This is the sacred land of Fairy Tail, and I will not let such a slight go unanswered.”

 

Zeref held up his hands. “No, you all have to get off the island, he’ll…” Without warning Zeref doubled over, clutching at his head and shaking. “No, no, you all have to leave now!”

 

“Well we kind of don’t have a boat,” Daniel shouted, before looking over to Gray. “Wait, you can make an ice boat right?”

 

Gray smacked his forehead. “Of course, Juvia can push us off the island and-”

 

“Get away!” A black energy seemed to envelop Zeref, O’Neill lost to explain what he was seeing.

 

“Everyone get away!” Makarov shouted. “Get back as far as you can, this is beyond any lost magic you know!”

 

“Grab the prisoners,” Carter shouted, hefting Ultear up on her shoulder. “Someone get the other one!”

 

As Carter ran, Ultear saw Zeref’s power in true form, the ever-expanding pulse of dark energies. “This is truly it,” she whispered. “This is the power of Lord Zeref.”

 

“You’ve seen this?” Carter threw Ultear off her shoulder. “Dammit, tell us how to stop this!”

 

“You can’t,” Ultear whispered, smiling as she looked past Carter and the others running past her. “This is the true power of our lord.”

 

Carter growled. “Dammit, can you be more useless?”

 

O’Neill shouted from a cliff on the water. “Carter, grab her and get moving!” Meredy saw Ultear was awake, and ran to her. Nodding to Carter, the two hefted the time wizard up and ran to the others, O’Neill glaring at Natsu. “You led us to a cliff?!”

 

“You’re the one saying Gray could make us a boat and get us out of here,” Natsu shouted back. “I thought this was what you wanted!”

 

O’Neill groaned. “Gray, boat, now!”

 

Gray moved to make the boat, but before he could Ultear forced Carter off-balance, landing on the ground and rolling herself to the water. Screaming, Meredy dove after her, both women slamming into the water and disappearing beneath the waves.

 

“O’Neill!” Turning, O’Neill saw what Teal’c was shouting about. The grass around the man had died, leaving behind brown, dead leaves and barren trees.

 

“Everything around him is dead,” Daniel whispered. “Jack, we can’t risk getting closer to him.”

 

“I don’t know Daniel, I was gonna just walk up and wrap my arms around him.” O’Neill was about to shout to Gray to make the damn boat when he heard a booming in the distance. Turning towards it, O’Neill felt his heart sink into his gut. “Oh, no, are you kidding me?”

 

Everyone turned to see a massive shape flying towards the island, becoming more defined and massive as it closed in as fast as a jet fighter. Great black wings flapped through the sky, thundering through the skies as the morning sun rose. “Okay, Carter, tell me we have a SAM on that FRED?”

 

“No good sir,” Carter said, taking out a pair of binoculars. “God, even without a point of reference it’s massive. Even factoring in this being another dimension the square cube law should be in effect on it.”

 

“Acnologia,” Makarov whispered, daring to look away from Zeref. “The Black Dragon itself. Him on the water and Zeref on the island. There’s no chance we can survive this.”

 

“Time for a tactical retreat then,” O’Neill said. “We get to another part of the island, hightail it back to civilization, and pray that no one else decides to pop up in the meantime.”

 

“No!” Zeref managed to pull himself up, the blackness around him slowly dissipating. “Acnologia is here, now, he knows of your magic and wants to end you all! Even if you run he’ll follow you!”

 

“Oh crap, he’s followed me?!” Gildarts looked towards the sky. “What you jerk, it wasn’t enough that you took my limbs, you want the rest of me too?”

 

Carter looked to Makarov. “How resilient would you say this creature is?”

 

“Gildarts is arguably the strongest wizard of my guild,” Makarov said, looking towards the crippled man. “That should tell you what the level of the problem is.”

 

O’Neill’s brain was in overdrive, to the point where Carter half expected steam to start pouring from his ears. “Alright, do any of you have the ability to open portals to another dimension?”

 

Lucy raised her hand half-heartedly. “Uh, I kinda do, but it’s only to one dimension and it really isn’t so effective in a case like this.”

 

“That’s our best hope,” Carter said. “Sir, our quantum signature is different from the ones present here, if we can find a way to use whatever technique Lucy has to tune in on our specific signature, we might be able to force open a door with their technology.”

 

“What are you, crazy?” Laxus pointed at the dragon approaching from the sea. “That thing is the deadliest thing on the planet, and you want to try something that’s never been done before to try and escape?”

 

“It’s a better option than trying to fight these two.” Gildarts put a hand on Lucy’s shoulder. “You can do it kid. I know you can.”

 

Lucy nodded, taking out her keys. “Alright, these all open up into the spirit world, but the gold keys are the most powerful spirits to summon.”

 

“That means the amount of energy involved is of a higher value?”

 

Lucy shrugged. “I dunno, I do use a lot more magic bringing them over than the other spirits.”

 

Carter nodded. “Which one would you say uses the most energy?”

 

Lucy quickly pulled up a new key. “This one, Aquarius. Mostly because she always disobeys me.”

 

“Can you take it apart, let me see the hardware inside?”

 

Lucy clutched the key close. “This is a key remember, I can’t break it open! Are you seriously telling me to break open a Zodiac key, this was a gift from my mother!”

 

Carter put up her hands. “Okay, okay, just activate it so we can get moving.”

 

Lucy nodded, bringing Aquarius out of the Spirit World. “Twice in a week,” the spirit growled, turning towards Lucy with murder in her eyes. “What on Earth is so important that you’d summon me twice in-” The spirit stopped, looking to the skies as the Black Dragon came closer. “That...that thing…”

 

“You have to help us,” Lucy said. “I know I shouldn’t have summoned you, but this is real trouble and Maj. Carter said that these could literally be the keys to save our lives.”

 

“Ma’am, I need to ask about this technology,” Carter said, quickly getting over the fact she was talking to a mermaid. “We need to-”

 

“Call the Spirit King,” Aquarius whispered. “Lucy, summon the Spirit King now, it’s the only way any of you fools are leaving this island alive!”

 

Lucy looked aghast. “You’ve gotta be kidding, me summon the Spirit King?”

 

“If it’ll help kill that thing then do it,” O’Neill shouted, all trace of his typical personality gone as survival became the priority. “Use that thing and bring out the big guns, move it!”

 

Lucy nodded. “Open, gate of the Celestial Spirit King!”

 

Two things happened simultaneously. Acnologia made landfall, and Lucy watched as the key shattered in her hand. Shocked, Lucy saw Aquarius turn and smile to her. “Don’t worry. This isn’t my end. Just the end of my key.” Before Lucy realized what happened, Aquarius vanished in a flash of light, and in her place there was a mighty roaring. The island shook, and as the great dragon let out a deafening roar a golden beam came down from the skies. As the dragon looked to it, a giant in armor with a gargantuan broadsword collided with it, sending both to the ocean.

 

“No, no, what just happened?” Lucy cradled the key in her hands, lost as the others shouted at each other trying to figure out what just hit Acnologia. “Aquarius can’t be gone, right? She has to still be here. No, no I won’t believe it!” Tears in her eyes, Lucy rose and rushed Carter. “What did you do! Did you know this was going to happen, that she would disappear! Tell me!”

 

Teal’c grabbed Lucy away from Carter. “The enemy is in the water, focus your attention on it rather than Maj. Carter!”

 

Lucy didn’t seem to listen, she just kept glaring at Carter. “Tell me how you knew that would happen, how did you know that summoning the Spirit King would take Aquarius away?” As she spoke, more beams of light appeared beside her, and before Carter or Teal’c could process it there were over a dozen figures surrounding them. “Bring my friend back now!”

 

Loke was about to speak when he felt something. As one the things turned, and saw their king fighting with a great dragon. “Everyone, protect Lucy!”

 

Lucy finally took her eyes off Carter. “Wait, Loke what are you-”

 

“Lucy listen very carefully,” Loke said. “Aquarius is still alive, she’s just in the spirit world. Right now you need to get off this island before that thing comes after you too.”

 

“No!” Slamming her foot down, Lucy glared at Loke. “I’m a Fairy Tail wizard aren’t I? I’m here at the S-class trials, I just helped defeat a dark guild! I’m not running!”

 

“Well if you’re gonna be angry focus on the ones causing all this,” Loke said, looking towards Acnologia. “I don’t know what these people are doing here, but that dragon is why Aquarius gave her key up to save you.”

 

Lucy growled. “Fine. I want that dragon gone! No one will ever hurt my friends and get away with it!”

 

The fight between the two giants closed on the island, everyone present watching and realizing that the two were brawling closer to land. “Everyone move,” Laxus shouted. “When they hit the land, smash that dragon with everything you have!”

 

“Our weapons don’t do much good sir,” Carter said, readjusting her LBV. “We have plenty of explosives though, all we need to do is get them inside and detonate.”

 

“I think our new friends can help with that,” O’Neill said. “Cats, here, now!”

 

“We’re not cats,” Panther Lily said, rushing over with Carla and Happy. “We’re-”

 

“Don’t care,” O’Neill said, grabbing the three and running to the FRED. “All of you pay attention because I can only say this once.”

 

The King and the Dragon traded blows, the King’s sword and the Dragon’s scales an equal match. It was the fight of the end times, two gods treating each other as punching bags. The King’s sword rang with the sound of asteroids colliding with planets, the Dragon’s roar like the screams of hell’s demons. The Fairy Tail wizards posed themselves, ready for the combat to come. SG-1, for their part, ran for cover. “What the hell are you all doing,” Carter shouted. “Get behind something, now!”

 

“Fairy Tail wizards don’t run,” Makarov said, stalking forward from Zeref engulfed in yellow light. “Our guild treats every challenge as a chance to prove our worth.” Lucy drew her whip, tears still flowing as the weapon crackled with energy. Cana drew her cards as Gildarts let his cloak fall. “If this is to be our grave, then let it ring with the sounds of battle for eternity.” The Strauss siblings turned into their combat forms. Gray threw off his shirt as Erza requipped into her Black Wing armor. “The gods in heaven will look down in awe, as we show our power to them in defiance of their plans.” The four dragon slayers focused their magical abilities; Electrical arcs sparked around Laxus. The wind around Lucy whipped and snapped with force. Gajeel was engulfed in a tornado of iron particles. Natsu was wreathed in flames. “There will be no victory for the Black Dragon, because even our deaths will take from him everything!”

 

Daniel shook his head. “I think their reason just took a long vacation Sam.”

 

As Acnologia and the Spirit King slammed into the island, Fairy Tail unleased their full fury. It was a technicolor nightmare, a hit of LSD with violence in the mix. Lightning crashed and iron struck. Spirits attacked the scaled hide of the dragon as beams of light danced about. Explosions erupted across the dragon’s hide as the Spirit King laid on blow after brutal blow.

 

“I believe we are outclassed Maj. Carter,” Teal’c said, joining Carter and Daniel behind a boulder. “I suggest we hasten to the nearest means off this island.”

 

“We can’t leave them Teal’c,” Daniel shouted. “Whatever that thing was, she was sentient, and we did something to her that can’t be undone. Either we think of a way to fix this or we go down with them.”

 

“Leave it to me,” O’Neill said. “Happy, now!” The three cats blasted off from the FRED, Panther Lily carrying the entire device. “Makarov, get those cats cover, now!”

 

“You heard him,” Makarov shouted, growing into a giant. “Fight my children, for the glory of our sacred soil!”

 

Even after serving in the SGC for years, Carter had never seen what was happening before her. Playing cards became bombs. Evergreen fired bolts of light from her hands that exploded on contact with the dragon. The three Strauss siblings were transformed into beasts, bobbing and weaving through Acnologia’s attacks as Bickslow’s totems fired beams in intricate formations. Freed created runes in the air, as Levy made entire words appear in the air that did what they were. Every part of Carter’s rational mind tried to puzzle out how it all happened, as so-called spirits fought alongside a girl with what Carter told herself was an electrified whip. Through it all the four dragon slayers sought to destroy their foe, laying into the monster with a force Carter had only seen in JDAMs and Daisy Cutter bombs. “Sir, what are you thinking!”

 

“Death Star, Carter,” O’Neill shouted, pointing to Happy, Carla, and a muscular Tiger Lily. “Happy’s got the detonator.”

 

As Carter watched, the wizards jumped between the dragon and the cats, forcing the dragon to focus on his enemies that actually attacked. The beast let out another great roar, throwing the wizards away. Giving the room Tiger Lily needed to throw the FRED into Acnologia’s mouth. For a second, the dragon tried to figure out what was in his fangs when Happy hit the detonator.

 

A plume of fire reached out of the dragon’s mouth, and as the smoke cleared all on the island were able to get a good look at the dragon’s head. At least, what was left of his upper jaw and the left eye socket. Teetering for a half second, the massive form of Acnologia collapsed into the water, throwing up another great gout of water as it fell into the darkness of the oceans. Staring in shock, the wizards and spirits watched as what to them was one of the most dangerous beasts in all existence drifted slowly out of their sight.

 

O’Neill dusted himself off as he walked out from behind the rock. “Is he dead?” Makarov returned to his typical size, joining his children in staring down at the waters below the cliff. “Sir, the dragon? Is he dead?”

 

The Spirit King turned to face O’Neill, and the colonel instinctively started to raise his weapon. “ _You are not like these friends of mine,_ ” the Spirit King said, despite O’Neill knowing that it wasn’t moving its mouth. “ _You are direct. You are without mercy when you are attacked._ ” The Spirit King and other spirits started to glow, becoming transparent over the course of seconds. “ _My friend, know that Aquarius still lives. I know you are her friend. Be well, know that she gave herself for the right reasons. She gave her key to protect you._ ” Smiling, the Spirit King disappeared with the other spirits back to their own dimension, leaving Fairy Tail and SG-1 to look to the morning sun.

 

“Holy cow it worked,” Daniel whispered. “It actually worked, I thought this was finally it.”

 

Fairy Tail looked to SG-1, and again O’Neill’s weapon nearly went up as well. “I never thought that I would see the great dragon Acnologia in the flesh, let alone fight him.” Makarov turned to stare at O’Neill. “Then in all of five seconds, you find a way to kill that which nearly killed us again.” Makarov started walking towards O’Neill, the wizards falling to their knees or half-collapsing from exhaustion. “You did what ever the Celestial Spirit King could not. How, Col. O’Neill?” Makarov had tears in his eyes as he stood toe to toe with O’Neill. “What kind of man are you?”

 

As the wizards and SG team stared at each other, Rustyrose grinned. “Perfect, just keep watching the little fairies, as I astound with my escape from your foolish captivity of my glory-”

 

“No.” Frozen, Rustyrose looked to see Zeref standing over him. “You will not leave so easily. Still, I believe I will have use for you.” Grabbing Rustyrose by the collar, Zeref started dragging the man to the ocean. “I think you will quite like my home.”

 

O’Neill didn’t know how to respond to such a question, if there ever could be an answer to such a question from a man like O’Neill. “So hang on, we help you kill an honest to God dragon, and you’re angry with us?”

 

“That’s not it colonel,” Erza whispered, holding the lose pieces of her armor closely. “Acnologia is a dread monster, a blight on us all, the earthly personification of destruction. You destroyed him without even fighting him.”

 

O’Neill motioned to the wizards. “You don’t call that a fight? You all look like death decided to play kickball with you.”

 

Gajeel scowled. “You don’t look so hot yourself.”

 

Carter walked over to Lucy. “I’m sorry, I am, I had no idea that this would happen.”

 

Lucy wiped the last of her tears away. “I know you didn’t know what would happen. I think Aquarius knew that she needed to do that to save us.” Smiling, Lucy looked to her friends as O’Neill and Gajeel started to go back and forth on looks. “She saved us, even after all the times she said she hated me and told me I was annoying.”

 

“Well once we understand how that key was made I can make you a new one,” Carter said. “I promise, we will bring her back.”

 

Lucy shook her head, still keeping her smile. “No, only she can bring back her own key. And I’ll find it one day, don’t worry.”

 

“O’Neill,” Teal’c shouted. “Our prisoner and the man in black robes are gone.”

 

Turning, O’Neill sighed. “Forget them Teal’c, we’ve got bigger fish to fry. Makarov, you mind getting us the hell off this rock?”

 

Makarov nodded, and spoke with a voice that belied his absolute exhaustion with how everything had happened. “Gray, make a boat. We’re all going home.”

 

As they set sail, the blonde woman stared at the four strangers leaving the island. Smiling, she sat on the tree. “Well, maybe they aren’t so bad.”

 

* * *

 

The guild hall was full of wizards anxious to meet the dimensional travelers. Daniel and Levy were busy discussing languages under the jealous eyes of Jet and Droy. Teal’c patiently listened as Elfmann challenged the jaffa to several “manly” contests. Carter showed Alzac and Bisca her P90 and M9, and O’Neill stood by the bar, talking with Makarov as Mirajane served the drinks.

 

“Stargate, eh?” Makarov shook his head. “No, we’ve never found any relics or treasures like those. Or this quantum mirror. The only people that would have that would be the government, and the kingdom isn’t our biggest supporter at the time.”

 

“I’d think killing an honest-to-God _dragon_ would carry a little weight sir,” O’Neill said. “Think about it, people might like it.”

 

“There is another possibility,” Makarov said. “You seem to all have a knack for improvising solutions to problems that we can’t find ones for.”

 

“They’ve been talking for over an hour,” Levy said, as she helped Daniel read over one of her books. “Do you really think you’ll be able to get home?”

 

“Oh, believe me, this isn’t the first time we’ve been stuck in situations like this. Now, this right here, you said it’s a verb?”

 

“Yep,” Levy said, cheerily tapping on the page. “Your language only has past, present, and future right? Here we have past, present, future too, but also distant past and possible future.”

 

“Interesting,” Daniel said. “And you said that this language is able to activate some kind of mental dysmorphia, that it causes two people’s consciousnesses to swap? How is that possible?”

 

Levy chuckled. “It’s magic, remember?”

 

“This is amazing,” Alzac said, holding the P90’s magazine in one hand and the weapon in the other. “And you’re saying none of the bullets have any spells on them, not even a simple pain spell?”

 

“Well usually the pain comes from when the enemy is shot.” Carter held up a spare round. “You see it fires a Teflon-coated copper-jacketed round which-”

 

“You’re kidding me!” All action in the hall froze, turning to look at Natsu as he shouted at O’Neill. “Me work with this guy? How can you tell me that Gramps, you know I don’t like them!”

 

“Hey, the feeling’s mutual buddy,” O’Neill said. “Sir, I’m telling you that this might not be the best move, you’ve gotta have other teams here we can work alongside. I mean partners who hate each others guts working together? I mean that’s just so cliché.”

 

“Be that as it may, I’m not foolish enough to think that your leaving Fiore will mean an end to any kind of dimensional trouble.” Makarov rose to his feet, managing to stand high above the others even as he barely broke even with O’Neill’s head. “My children, today we have been shown a momentous truth. Edolas was not the only other world to find. There are others, possibly an infinite number. We will not turn our eyes from this fact, nor pretend that these cannot harm us. They have twice found our home, and twice we have only prevailed through the goodness of those in these other worlds. And for the first time, another world has saved us.” Makarov turned to O’Neill and the others. “Col. O’Neill, Maj. Carter, Dr. Jackson, Teal’c. You have shown yourselves to be the worthiest of compatriots and of upstanding character. Fighters for the right reasons and those who push the boundaries of what is possible. You helped to defeat Acnologia himself, something that no one in this guild could even consider possible.” Makarov threw his hand into the air, thumb and pointer finger extended. “You may now consider yourselves honorary members of Fairy Tail, and for the rest of your lives carry with you that honor wherever you go!”

 

The guild cheered, throwing their hands up in a similar gesture. Even Natsu, angry as he looked, held up his hand as well. O’Neill looked to the others, and shrugging Carter snapped to attention and gave a salute. O’Neill did as well, and with Makarov nodded. “As we can’t ignore these other dimensions any longer, I will give the four I feel most capable of handling these challenges. Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Erza, will you take on this beyond-S-class mission, to travel with SG-1 wherever they may go?”

 

Erza rose, requipping into her armor. “Of course master!”

 

Gray raised his fist. “Whatever you say, I’ll do it!”

 

Lucy jumped up. “They saved our lives, we’d be the worst kind of people not to help them!”

 

Makarov turned to Natsu. “Well my boy, what do you say?”

 

Natsu glared at O’Neill. “You fight a lot of tough enemies where you go?”

 

O’Neill nodded. “Kid, I’ve killed _gods_ , a dragon is nothing.”

 

Natsu grinned. “Then it looks like I’m coming with you after all. Right Happy?”

 

Happy flew over the bar. “Aye sir, we’re all coming!”

 

The guild erupted into more cheering, guild mates clapping Carter and Daniel on the back. Elfmann roared, throwing Teal’c onto his shoulder. Suddenly all of SG-1 were in the air, held aloft by cheering wizards. O’Neill looked to Carter for some kind of cue that they needed to stop it, but Carter laughed as Teal’c roared along. O’Neill got the message. Celebrate for now.

 

And celebrate they did. Until an errant shove by Macao pushed Daniel into Erza. Specifically into Erza as she tried to eat her strawberry cake. Then came the punching and throwing and broken windows and several broken noses and a dislocated shoulder and dozens of bruised egos. SG-1 scattered for cover behind the bar, finding Lucy and Happy already there. O’Neill peeked up from cover. “This happen often?”

 

Lucy sighed with a quiet smile. “You get used to it in Fairy Tail.”

 

* * *

 

Gen. Hammond walked into the control room, anxious eyeing the gate and mirror. “Anything yet?”

 

Harriman shook his head. “No sir, still no sign of any activity from either the gate or the quantum mirror.”

 

Hammond had been waiting for over a week without any contact from SG-1, dangerously close to their cutoff point. Internally Hammond was composing their letters of condolence when something caught his eye. “ _Was that a flash?_ ”

 

“Sir, systems just picked up a surge of energy in the middle of the gate room,” Harriman shouted. “Scratch that, we’re picking up several bursts of energy every half-second, similar to what we’ve measure when the mirror is activated.”

 

As alarms sounded and a team rushed into the gate room, Hammond watched as a small circle of light opened in the center of the room. Sparks of lightning arced away from it, the airmen in the room forced to don their goggles to have a chance at looking at the thing. Gen. Hammond had to cover his eyes, until the light from the object was bright enough that everyone looking at it had to turn away.

 

“SG-1, reporting back with four general.”

 

Looking down as the light faded, Gen. Hammond saw SG-1 back in the gate room, four figures standing with them. “Stand down, stand down! Welcome back, SG-1.”

 

“Good to be back, sir-”

 

“AAAAAAAH!” Turning around, O’Neill saw that the wizards were all pointing at each other. “What happened to you? What happened to me!? What happened to us!”

 

O’Neill shook his head. “Debrief in ten, sir?”

 

Gen. Hammond nodded, a slight smile on his face. “Debrief in ten, colonel.”


End file.
